RIGHT ON PAR USC FOOTBALL AS POOR AS EVER IN LAST 10 SEASONS.

Byline: Scott Wolf Staff Writer

For a majority of USC fans, the impending departure of coach Paul Hackett will be a cause for celebration.

But while Hackett's three-year tenure will be remembered as a failure, it hasn't been much worse than the rest of the decade. In fact, a strong case can be made that the past 10 years have been the worst in modern USC football history.

The only other decade to rival this one in ineptitude was the 1950s, which included a 1-9 season in 1957. But the '50s included a three-year period when the Trojans were on probation.

``Not since USC was a major player on the scene have they had this disappointing a stretch and nothing like these back-to-back, five-game losing streaks (in 1999 and 2000),'' said Mike Glenn, a USC football historian. ``They never had a year where no one finished beneath them in the conference - ever.''

Consider some of the lowlights of the past 10 years:

--USC finished last in its conference for the first time in school history (2000).

--USC had a six-game losing streak (1991), a five-game losing streak (1999) and another five-game skid for the first time in any decade (2000).

--USC lost to Washington State in Los Angeles for the first time in 40 years (1997) and repeated that feat in 2000.

--USC lost to Oregon State for the first time in 33 years (2000).

--Besides an eight-year losing streak to UCLA, USC didn't end its 13-year winless streak against Notre Dame until 1996.

``Even in the '50s, they never had big losing streaks to their rivals,'' Glenn said.

--USC is 15-26-1 against Top 25 teams in the last 10 years.

--The Trojans made just one Rose Bowl appearance between the 1990 and 2000 seasons.

USC had some periods of futility early in its history, but it should be remembered that before the 1920s, Stanford and California were considered the biggest football programs, even in Southern California.

The modern era (since 1920) has never seen this long a period of despair, nor has it seen a decade chew up three coaches (Larry Smith, John Robinson, Hackett) with a fourth ready to arrive next season.

``In their entire history, there's never been this sort of coaching merry-go-round,'' Glenn said. ``That's been unprecedented.''

Is there any reason to think things will be different with next year's new coach? Are there certain problems that are proving too hard for any coach to overcome at USC in recent years?

``I would say one reason is they can't recruit like they used to because so many universities across the country are taking players out of Southern California,'' said Charles White, a former USC tailback who won the 1979 Heisman Trophy and was an assistant coach from 1993-97. ``It all boils down to the players.''

It's at this point when the usual excuse of scholarship limitations is often mentioned, although it is true that USC has significantly raised the academic requirements for incoming athletes in the past 10 years.

The Trojans' current admission requirements are as strict as any school in the Pacific-10 Conference except Stanford.

Another fact is the past two school presidents - James Zumberge and Steven Sample - have tried to distance the university from the ``football school'' image it had through the early 1980s. Zumberge's predecessor, John Hubbard, once drew a penalty for berating an official on the sideline. That would be unheard of today.

But as much as academics might hinder bringing in players, there have been other shortcomings.

The other schools in the Pac-10 are no longer behind USC in projecting an appearance of being a first-class program. Schools like Oregon and Oregon State have spent millions upgrading football facilities, an area in which USC will probably never be considered among the conference leaders.

Schools like Arizona State have superior facilities and less-stringent entrance requirements.

``Even though there's some things being done, some other people in the Pac-10 have passed them by in facilities and then passed them by in recruiting,'' said a former player and coach who asked to remain anonymous.

``I think one of things that is crucial at USC is the recruiting class has to be good from top to bottom. They get seven or eight commitments from big-name players lately, but the rest have to project into big-time players too. The bottom of the recruiting class has to emerge to determine the future of the program. There has to be better evaluation.''

For all his weaknesses, Hackett has spent the last three years building up the offensive line. Many of the players, except for freshman center Lenny Vandermade, are still a year away from playing and will benefit Hackett's successor.

``The first year I was here, when we won eight games, we thought we felt the high side of the 10-year period and could build on that,'' Hackett said. ``This year was disappointing. We thought we could make a move.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, chart

Photo: (color) no caption (USC football player)

Chart: SLIPPERY SLOPE 

Since its perfect season in 1972, the USC football team has lost sight of its winning ways.

SOURCE: USC

Bradford Mar/Staff Artist